Hi, about 7 years ago I came down with a severe staph infection and had to be on antibiotics for over a year. This compromised my immune system.. It seems I have had one tooth infection after another. I had two teeth extracted because the infection would never clear up..okay, I went to my general Dr. Because my lymph nodes on the left side of my neck were swollen, he ran tests they came back normal.. He did a CT of the node and it is just reactive. So he sent me to a ENT who scoped me and said everything is fine.. So then process of elimination I called my dentist and went into to see him.. He said a upper tooth on that side showed infection and it had already had a root canal and crown, so he retreated the tooth. He said the tooth smelled horrible while he was cleaning it out. He wasn't going to put me on antibiotics but I kind of insisted. It has been several weeks and the nodes in my neck are still swollen and now the ones under my jaw are swelling up and I have stiffness at the base of the back of my head and neck.. I went back to have some fillings on my front teeth and explained to my dentist the swelling hasn't gone down and it was worse, he didn't seem to think it was a tooth related problem.. What do I do? I feel horrible and have no energy. No fever and little to no pain.

Well, it seems like the dentist doesn't seem to think its a dental problem.

Could you go back to your primary care physician and seek a second opinion from another specialist?

Unfortunately some of your symptoms such as a stiff neck are beyond the scope of a dentist. We don't treat that area of the body. The swollen lymph nodes could be due to a dental infection but as your dentist said, its been ruled out.

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